Mom? Pop?
by Distant Luver
Summary: Helga and Arnold are assigned a family project. What will he say about his parents? How will that affect her crush?
1. Poor Arnold.

DISCLAIMER: hey Arnold isn't mine it's © 2 nickelodeon and I have NO connections!  
  
'Mom? Pop?' a Helga and Arnold fic  
  
~  
  
chapter 1  
  
~  
  
The first bell rang at good ole' P.S. 118, and everyone rushed to class. Even though it was early in the morning, everyone was louder than a whole pack of stereos on high.  
  
"Now class! Settle down class!" Mr. Simmens called over the crowd. Everyone shushed up and listened. A few spit balls hit Arnold in the back of the head. He sighed. *If only Helga gave herself a chance to be nicer.* he thought.  
  
"Now you all have a new assignment." Mr. Simmens continued. "It will be a partner, co-ed project. You will both have a chance to learn about each other's families, and make a time line of your family history." Arnold clicked his pen. Then again. Then again. Helga's eyes lit up. *Please be Arnold. Please be Arnold.* she thought.  
  
Simmens picked up his clipboard. "You will have one period to talk about when you will meet. Let's start. Hm. Gerald and Phoebe, Harold and Rhonda, Curly and Lila, Nadine and Eugene,." He paused. "Hm. that's funny. I forgot to mark Arnold's partner. Well let's see then." Mr. Simmens scanned around the room and stopped at Helga. "Arnold and Helga." Helga stopped dead. Arnold rolled his eyes and let out a sigh. Before Helga could react, the bell rung and everyone got up. "Huh. I guess we don't have as much time as I thought we did! Class dismissed!" Mr. Simmens opened the door and let everyone out. Helga let out a sigh. "Saved by the bell." She murmured.  
  
After school, Helga and Phoebe were taking books out of their lockers to take home. "So what's the scoop on tall hair boy? Drivin' you crazy yet?" Helga slammed her locker door.  
  
"Actually Helga, Gerald is being quite nice about it. I'm meeting him after school." Phoebe replied. "What about Arnold?"  
  
"Didn't talk to him yet, and don't intend to. It's bad enough I got teamed up with football head."  
  
"Well you do have top do the assignment together."  
  
"We'll figure something out. I'll do mine, he does his, never have to see each other once."  
  
Just then, Helga turned around and bumped right into Arnold, causing him to fall over.  
  
"Watch where you're going!" Helga said, getting up.  
  
"Why don't YOU watch where you're going?" he mumbled.  
  
"What was that Arneldo?!"  
  
"Uh sorry Helga." He said, standing up. "Look, about this project thing, stop by my place at 4 and we'll talk."  
  
"Why should I football head?"  
  
"If we wanna ace it then we need to actually do the project." And with that, he left.  
  
As soon as she left the building, Helga ran into her usual alley and took out her locket. But this time, she wasn't her usual hyper, Arnold-worshiper self. "What will he talk about? He'll certainly try to keep off the subject of his parents. What am I sopped to do?" Helga looked at her watch. 3:45. "What if he does talk about them though? I guess he'd probably cry. But then again, not in front of me. He'd probably think I'd make a laughing stock of it." Helga sighed and picked up her books. "Better leave if I'm gonna get there on time." And with that, she left.  
  
"OH! You must be Arnold's little friend! Right this way." Grandpa led Helga up to the staircase. "There ya go! Right up those stairs." Helga walked up, and before she even knocked, Arnold opened it. "Hey Helga. Come on in."  
  
Helga walked in and sat herself on the couch. Arnold took the desk chair and organized a few papers. "So where do we start?"  
  
"How should I know?!"  
  
"Look Helga. I know you hate doing this with me, and to tell you the truth, it's no day at the beach for me either, but we need to work together. Remember that dumb egg project we did?"  
  
"THAT was as dumb as they come football head!"  
  
"Whatever. Point is, we aced that project. And if we can survive that, we can survive this. Why don't you start?" Arnold looked at Helga.  
  
"Um. um. well actually." Helga blushed.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Uh. I. don't have anything with me."  
  
"What's that supposed to mean?"  
  
"Uh. why not you go first?"  
  
"Whatever. We'll start with my great- great- great- great- great- great- great-grandpa." Arnold sighed, opening a photo album.  
  
Two hours later, they were both still there, Helga listening to Arnold's lecture on his great- great-grandmother. But among the black-and-white photos was a color picture, in perfect condition. Helga stared at it. Arnold's voice started to fade out. *his parents?* she questioned. And it faded in reality when her finger dropped on the picture. "Who's that?"  
  
"Uh. No one special."  
  
"Who?"  
  
"Nobody." Arnold reached up and quickly wiped a tear from his eye. Helga felt so guilty for bringing it up.  
  
"Should we call it a night?"  
  
Arnold nodded, handing Helga her books. "Thanks for coming. Tomorrow at 4?"  
  
"How about right after school?"  
  
"Sure." Arnold looked up at Helga. *Why's she being so nice all of a sudden?* He looked into her eyes. She closed them, trying to shut him out of her mind. He shook his head. "I gotta go." She said. "Bye."  
  
"See ya."  
  
Helga turned around and ran out of his room. She sighed and walked home. Meanwhile, Arnold picked up that color photo and held it close to him, trying not to let those rivers in his eyes break free.  
  
~~  
  
I know: bad so far. But I promise I got a REALLY REALLY good idea!!!!!! Please review!!  
  
suki 


	2. They're...

DISCLAIMER: hey Arnold isn't mine it's © 2 nickelodeon and I have NO connections!  
  
WARNING: DO NOT READ THIS CHAPTER YET IF YOU'VE SUFFERED BEFORE FROM CLIFFHANGERS (EX: NO SLEEP) it's happened 2 me, just lookin out 4 u folk ^^  
  
'Mom? Pop?' a Helga and Arnold fic  
  
~  
  
chapter 2  
  
~  
  
A week had passed since that dreadful afternoon. Helga couldn't take anymore. Every time she brought up the subject of the picture, Arnold just shrugged it off. *I need to know. I gotta.*  
  
Just then, there was a knock on the door. "Helga dear! Your friend Arnold's here!"  
  
"Let him in Mariam!"  
  
Arnold opened the door and walked in. Helga couldn't help but return his cheerful smile, even if most of it was hidden. "Hey."  
  
"Hey. So where were we Helga?"  
  
"Um. I'm not sure. Why don't you go?"  
  
"Hm." Arnold hesitated. "Have I ever told you the story of my great-grandma who."  
  
"Got run over by her own car with no driver in it?" She interrupted. "3 times."  
  
"Well what about my aunt?"  
  
"You mean the lawyer who invented post-its?" Helga rolled her eyes.  
  
"My great uncle?"  
  
"I don't think so."  
  
"Great!" Arnold sighed with relief. "Now he was a."  
  
"SHOVE IT FOOTBALL HEAD!" Helga yelled. Arnold's mouth shut faster than the newest rocket developed by NASA and UNSF. She sighed and got up.  
  
"Look." She started. "When we started this project, the only color picture in your album was of your parents and you won't talk about them!"  
  
"What made you think that they're my parents?"  
  
"It's easy to tell! Your mother's football head senior and your father's blond! I wasn't born yesterday!"  
  
"I didn't say you were!"  
  
"That's not the point." Helga sighed and sat back down. Her vision borrowed Arnold's. "I wanna know about your parents. But you don't wanna tell me. Why?"  
  
Arnold turned his head. He paused. "I've never told anyone and I don't intend on telling anyone either."  
  
"But Arnold."  
  
"Case closed!" Without him even realizing it, Arnold's arm swung towards Helga, practicly knocking her off her seat. She stopped. Arnold looked at his hand and clenched it into a fist. "I'm sorry. I kinda get mad when someone brings my parents up."  
  
"Then I'm the one who should be sorry."  
  
"It's ok." Arnold looked at Helga. *Maybe she WON'T tell. But what if she does?*  
  
"Ok. I'll make you a deal." Arnold started. "If you promise to tell no one, I'll tell you about my parents."  
  
"I. I guess I promise. Go ahead."  
  
Arnold paused. "A long time ago, my parents met on a African exploration. My pop was a scientist and my mom. well I'm not so sure what she was. Anyhow, they got to know each other really well and I guess. well I guess things just started to click."  
  
"Then what?"  
  
"They moved back here, got married, had me, everything was perfect."  
  
"Then what happened?"  
  
Arnold paused. He looked up at Helga's eager face.  
  
"A bad disease spread through Africa, and they went for a little while, promising they'd come back. Grandpa said they never came back, and their plane was never found." Arnold bowed his head, clutching his small, blue cap to his heart. Helga looked down.  
  
"I. I'm sorry."  
  
"It's ok. I guess I needed to tell someone. It was building up."  
  
"I know all about that. It's happened to me. My parents aren't gone but it's like they are. They're slaves for my sister."  
  
"How's that feel?"  
  
"Are you kidding?! I've raised myself my entire life! I hate my life, I hate my family, I hate my sister."  
  
"Hm. Seems you have a lot more to hate than I do. No wonder you always yell at everyone. I know it seems kinda weird, but since we started this project together, you've been a lot nicer to me."  
  
Helga paused. "I. I feel the same way. Friends?"  
  
"Friends."  
  
Helga and Arnold looked at each other. Their blank looks suddenly changed to smiles and laughter when Arnold started tickling Helga.  
  
"Hey! Quit it!"  
  
"You're alittle ticklish, huh?"  
  
~  
  
A few weeks later, Arnold and Helga sat in the attic of the boarding house, engaged in a glue-fight. Laughter shot around the room just like the glue. It finally settled down as Helga stamped a picture of Arnold and his parents on the poster. He wiped a tear as he looked at it.  
  
"Ya know," Helga started. "I'll bet they're still watching you."  
  
"They're probably going 'why the hell is he in a glue fight when he's sopposed to be doing a project?'" Both laughed, but it ceased at the sound of the doorbell.  
  
Arnold slid down the staircase and flung the door open. A young man and a young woman were there. "Excuse me," the woman started, "But are we at the right address?"  
  
Arnold took the paper from her and nodded. "Yeah, you're right. What can I do for ya?"  
  
"Oh wow. It's been so long since we've last been here. Are two old looney folks named Phil and Pooky running this house?"  
  
"Sure they are. Is there anything I can do?"  
  
"Well they probably think we're dead by now." The man replied. "We left our little one here years ago, and we just made it back to America a short while ago."  
  
"I see. What's the name?"  
  
"Well our son's name is Arnold."  
  
Arnold stared at the two adults, who were clueless. Helga rushed down the stairs. "Hey football head!" Arnold didn't answer.  
  
"What's up?" she asked.  
  
"Um. excuse me," Arnold paused. "Helga, can I have a quick word?" Arnold pulled Helga to the side before she could reply. "What's going on?" she asked.  
  
"Helga there's something I need to tell you."  
  
"Like what?"  
  
"Those two people at the door. they're."  
  
"They're what?"  
  
Arnold paused. "They're my parents."  
  
Helga's eyes widened. Arnold looked to the door, wondering what to do.  
  
~  
  
I luv cliffhangers, just hate it when it happens to me. I'm glad I disturbed ur sleep tonight!!!! HAHAHA well can't say I didn't warn ya haha  
  
suki 


	3. Talk to them.

DISCLAIMER: hey Arnold isn't mine it's © 2 nickelodeon and I have NO connections! (But boy I wish I did ^^)  
  
'Mom? Pop?' a Helga and Arnold fic  
  
~  
  
chapter 3  
  
~  
  
"They're my parents!" Arnold repeated.  
  
"Don't tell them who you are! Keep it secret!" Helga whispered. She looked at the door. The couple had come in and started looking around. "They obviously don't have a clue that you're Arnold so don't tell them yet."  
  
Arnold nodded and looked up at his cap. He took it off, putting it behind the phone. "They'd recognize it." He explained. Helga nodded. "Now what do we do?" he asked.  
  
Helga shook her head. "Dunno."  
  
"We needa talk to them. I wanna know the story from their POV." Arnold grabbed Helga's hand, and for a minute, she thought she would faint. But on the outside, her face was still normal. "Come with me?"  
  
Helga took a few moments to let herself get back to normal before she nodded and returned the squeeze on his hand.  
  
A short minute later, all four were in the kitchen, just starting to talk. "So what are your names?" Arnold started.  
  
"Pete and Naomi. And you?"  
  
Helga and Arnold looked at each other with a 'what now?' look on their faces. "He's Gerald!"  
  
"She's Phoebe!"  
  
"Hm. So Gerald, Phoebe. How long have you lived here?" Naomi asked, stirring sugar into her tea.  
  
"Well I've been here a while, and Phoebe doesn't live here."  
  
"I see."  
  
"So tell us about this Arnold guy. We might know 'em." Arnold said, trying not to sound anxious.  
  
"Oh!" Naomi smiled. "He was the cutest little thing! He had just learned to walk when we had to go back to Africa to help cure a disease. We're world travelers you see, and doctor comes second. We agreed of course. But only for a little while since we didn't want to leave poor Arnold. We left him here in the boarding house with his grandparents, thinking it would only be a little while. But we were so wrong."  
  
"What happened?" Helga questioned. Arnold's grip on her hand tightened, so he wouldn't cry. Helga's cheeks flushed.  
  
"Well," Pete continued. "Our plane was lost in a sand pit. We were forced to travel by foot. After we had finally reached the village, Naomi had caught the disease before it was identifiable. It turned out to be small pox. I tried all types of medicines. I even tried combining their medicine with ours, it worked. I can't remember what it was though, since it was so long ago. After curing from small pox last year, we knew we had to come back, even though everyone would think we're dead."  
  
Arnold couldn't help it anymore. He had to cry. Covering his face, he got up, quickly hugged Naomi and took out his cap. He ran upstairs before he cried any harder. Helga looked down and wiped a tear. Naomi and Pete had never been more puzzled. "What was that? Is there something wrong with Gerald?"  
  
Helga shook her head. "You see, Naomi, Pete, Gerald's." Helga paused.  
  
"Gerald's what?"  
  
"Gerald is. your son Arnold." Helga looked up to see the two most surprised faces in her life. Naomi even started to tear.  
  
"He's missed you a lot. My father's never been any help. He calls him orphan boy. When the parent's day weekend rolls around he's always sad, and now we both have family time line projects. At first he didn't wanna tell me about you guys."  
  
"My poor baby." Naomi whispered. Helga slightly nodded. She stood up.  
  
"Excuse me for a minute." Helga ran up the stairs to Arnold's room. She knocked lightly.  
  
"Who is it?"  
  
"It's me."  
  
Helga saw the tear's trail on Arnold's face as soon as he opened the door. He shut the door as soon as she was inside.  
  
"What do I do Helga? What? What?!" Arnold was starting to choke up again. Helga took his hands in hers and smiled at him. He'd never looked more puzzled.  
  
"Why is this supposed to be a sad thing? They're your parents Arnold. They love you."  
  
"I know. But... but. I missed them so much."  
  
Helga smiled. "Don't tell me. Tell them."  
  
Arnold looked at the door. *She's right. I need to talk to them.*  
  
"Helga?"  
  
"Hm?"  
  
"This is kinda embarrassing, but can you come with me? Just for support?" Arnold looked at Helga with big, pleading eyes. She smiled and nodded.  
  
"Just for support."  
  
Arnold smiled and rubbed his thumb against the back of her hand. "I dunno what I'd do without ya Helga." Helga's cheeks flushed.  
  
"Let's go. If you wanna talk to them, now's the time." Arnold nodded. Together, they opened the door and went downstairs. 


End file.
